SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS, DISCUSSIONS, IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
8. Learners thinking that doing science courses are difficult
5.4 IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
5.5.6 Suggestions for further research
It is very important for further researchers to undergo another research of the same kind as these science subjects are the ‘killer subjects’ in most schools, especially in the Mount Frere Education District. The researchers should also use other research methods in answering the same research question. Obamanu (2011:1) states that the
171 purpose of teaching and learning Science, Technology and Mathematics Education is specifically to produce three kinds of intellectual capital: scientists and engineers who will continue the research and development that is central to the economic growth of the country, technologically proficient workers who are capable of dealing with the demands of a science-based high-technology workforce and scientifically-literate citizens who make intelligent decisions about public policy and who understand the world around them. Again this study is worth undertaking in the sense that South Africa is in need of suitably-qualified science teachers, doctors, scientists and many other scientifically-oriented professionals so that the country will have the capacity to expand economically without importing foreign scientific and technological expertise.
5.7 CONCLUSION
This study was aimed at investigating the factors that contribute to senior secondary school learners’ poor performance in science subjects in the Mount Frere Education District of the Eastern Cape. The findings of the research revealed the following factors as the factors that contribute to senior secondary school learners’ poor performance in science subjects in the Mount Frere Education District of the Eastern Cape: The lack of parental involvement, the shortage of instructional materials, the incorrect usage of instructional material, the shortage of laboratories, the shortage of qualified science teachers and the negative attitudes of learners towards science subjects in schools in the Mount Frere Education District of the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
172 REFERENCES
Charlsworth, R. & Lind, K. 1990. Maths and Science for young children. Published by Delmar publishers Inc.
Cohen, L.; Manion, L. & Marrison, K. 2007. Research methods in education. London:
Routledge.
Conrad, C. F. & Serlin, R.C. 2006. The sage handbook for research in education.
Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S., 2008. Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials.
3rd ed. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.
Douglas, R. G. 2002. Design teaching strategies: A behaviour analyses systems approach. United States of America: Published by Maple-Vall Book Manufacturing Group.
Haylock, D. 2006. Mathematics explained for primary teachers. Third edition. California:
SAGE publishers.
James, H. M. & John, F. W. 2002. Understanding and Evaluating Educational Research.
Second edition. Virginia, Common Wealth University
Johnson, B & Christensen, L. 2008. Educational research: qualitative, quantitative and mixed method approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Maree, K., 2007. First Step in Research. South Africa. Pretoria: Van Schaikwyk.
Mertler, C. A., 2009.Teachers as Researchers in the classroom. 2nd ed. London: Sage.
173 Martin, D. J.2006. Elementary science methods. Fourth edition. USA: Thompson Wadsworth.
Muis, D. 2004. Doing quantitative research in education with SPSS. London: Sage.
McMillan, J. H., & Schumacher S., 2006. Research in Education. 6th ed. America:
Pearson Education, Inc.
McMillan, J. H. & Schumacher, S. 2010. Research in education: Evidence-based inquiry.
Seventh edition.Virginia Commonwealth University: Produced by Pearson Education, Inc.
Louis, C.; Lawrence, M. & Keith, M. 2002. Research methods in education. Fifth edition.
London.
Maree, K. 2010. First Steps in Research. Sixth Impression. Pretoria: Published by Van Schaik Publishers.
National Science Foundation in U.S. Department of Education. 1997. Science for all children. Washington: National Academy Press.
Palmer, J. K. 2009. Factors that contribute to the low achievement on the science portion of the Ohio high school graduation test. A Master’s Seminar Paper presented to the Faculty of the College of Education Ohio University. Ohio: Department of Teacher Education.
Post.1988. Teaching Mathematics (Research based methods). Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon Inc.
Saemann, B. 2009. Motivation in second language acquisition. Germany.
174 White, C. J. 2005. Research: A practical guide. First edition. Pretoria:
Published by Ithuthuko Investment.
REFERENCES (WEBSITE)
Aigbomian, D.O.; Momoh, S.O.; Okoye, N.S.& 0kecha, R.E. Teachers’ Quality, Instructional Strategies and students’ performance in Secondary School Science. Journal of instructional psychology, Vol. 34, no. 4.
Alexander, W. W. 2011.The Scientisation of Science Teacher Preparation and Professional Development in South Africa. [Online]
Available at http:// http://www.slideshare.net/aww11. [Accessed 10-07-2012].
Asikhia, O. A. 2010. Students and Teachers’ Perceptions of the Causes of Poor
Academic Performance in Ogun State Secondary Schools [Nigeria]: Implications for Counseling for National Development. [online] available at
http://www.eurojournals.com/ejs13_2_08.pdf. [Accessed 24-04-2012].
Bird, D. K. 2009. The use of Questionnaires for Acquiring Information on Public
Perception of Natural Hazards and Risk Mitigation: A review of current knowledge and practice. [Online] available at http:// http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net
[Accessed on 18-10-2012].
Coady, C. & Rylands L.J. 2008. Performance of students with weak mathematics in first-year mathematics and science. International Journal of mathematics education in science and technology, Vol. 40, no.6, 15-09-2009.[Online] available at http:// www.
Informaworld. Com. [Accessed 15-08-2012].
Craker, D. E. 2006. Attitudes toward science of students enrolled in introductory level Science Courses at UW-La Crosse. [Online] available at www.uwlax.edu/urc
175 [Accessed on 14-03-2012].
Edwin, R. V. T. &Vanora, H. 2001.The importance of pilot studies.
[Online] available at www.http:// http://sru.soc.surrey.ac.uk/SRU35.html [Accessed 13-09-2012].
Godwin, V. O. & Harry O. O. 2009. Questionnaire as a data collection instrument.
[Online] available at www.http:// onganya.blogspot.com/2010/0 [Accessed 12-09-2012].
Hopkins, W. G. Quantitative Research Design [online]
Available at http://www.sportsci.org [Accessed 27-09-2012].
Hobson, A. & Townsend, A. 2012. Research Ethics in Education.
[Online] Available at http:// www.edu.plymouth.ac.uk [Accessed 9-10-2012].
International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA).Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. 2011. [Online] Available
at http://www. http://www.iea.nl/?id=290. [Accessed 10-07-2012].
Jekayinfa, A. A. 1993. Effects of instructional resources on the academic performance of students in history in Nigeria. [Online] available at
http://www.unilorin.edu.ng/publications/jekayinoluwa/2. [Accessed 09-03-2012.
Joan, J. C. 2009. Simple Random Sampling. [Online] available at http://www.Experiment-resources.com. [Accessed 10-09-2012].
Kazerooni, E. A. 2001. Population and Sample [online] available at http://www.ajronline.orgl [Accessed 10-10-2012].
Kendra. C. 2012. What Is a Survey? [Online] available at http:// http://psychology.about.com [Accessed 10-10-2012].
176 Kimberly A. Galt, Pharm.D., 2009. Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods
Approaches to Research and Inquiry. [Online]. Available at
http://spahp2.creighton.edu/OfficeOf Research/. [Accessed 10-7-2013]
Koledoye, J. A. 2011. Effect of teachers’ academic qualification on students’
Performance at the secondary level. [Online] available at http://www.tasu.academia.edu/K. [Accessed 09-03-2012].
LaBahn, J. 1995.Education and Parental Involvement in Secondary Schools: Problems, Solutions, and Effects. [Online] available at
htpp://www.edpsycinteractive.org/files/parinvol.html.[Accessed09-03-2012].
Legotlo, M. W. &Maaga, M. G. 2002. Perceptions of stakeholders on causes of poor performance in Grade 12 in a province in South Africa. South African Journal of Education2002.TVol22(2)–113-118[Online]availablehttp://
www.sabinet.co.za/abstracts/educat/ [Accessed 15-03-2012].
Marie, C. H., 1997. Choosing Qualitative Research: A primer for technology Education Researcher. [online] Available at: http://www.scholars.lib.vt.edu. [Accessed 10-9-2012]
Mack, N.; Cynthia, W.; Kathleen, M. M.; Greg, G. & Emily, N. 2011. Qualitative Research Methods: A data collector’s field guide. [Online] Available at: http://www.
fhi.org/en/hr./pubs/books reports/qrm_datacoll.htm. [Accessed August 2011].
Macmillan Dictionary. 2012. Permission- definition. [Online]
Available at http://ww.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/permission Accessed (13-09-2012].
Mapolelo, C.D. 2009. Students’ experiences with mathematics teaching and learning:
Listening to unheard voices. International Journal of mathematics education in science
177 and technology, Vol. 40, no.3, 15 April 2009. [Online] Available at http//: www.
Informaworld. Com. [accessed 15-08-2012].
Market Street Research. 2012. Analyzing Quantitative Data. [Online]
Available at http://www.marketstreetresearch.com [Accessed 20-10-2012].
Hammersley, M. and Traianou, A. 2007. Ethics and Educational Research.London: TLRP. [Online] Available at: at
http://www.tlrp.org/capacity/rm/wt/traianou [accessed 28-09- 2012].
Mji, A. and Makgato, M. 2006. Factors associated with high school learners’ poor performance: a spotlight on mathematics and physical science. South Africa journal of education.Vol.26 (2)253-266
[Online) available at http://www.ajol.info/index.php [accessed 20-01-2012].
National Academy of Education .2009. Teacher quality.
[Online] available athttp://www.naeducation.org/Teacher_Quality_White_Paper.pdf [Accessed 05-03-2012].
Obomanu, B. J. 2011. Factors Related to Under Achievement in Science, Technology and Mathematics Education (STME) in Secondary Schools in Rivers State, Nigeria.
World Journal of Education Vol. 1, No. 1; April 2011 [online] available at http:// www.sciedu.ca/journal/inde. [Accessed 15-03-2012].
Özkan, F. 2011. Evaluating the effect of teaching strategies and Learning styles to students’ success. [Online] available at
http://www.firat.edu.tr/icits2011/papers/27652.pdf [Accessed 05-03-2011].
Richard, M. R. & Edward, L. 2000. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: Classic definition and new directions.[online] Available at http://www.mmrg.pbworks.com
178 [Accessed 02-03-2012].
Smith, C. R. 2004. Poor teaching. [Online] available at
http://www.education.com/reference/article. [Accessed 6-03-2012].
Sultan, M. 2009. Education: Medium of Instruction. [Online]
Available at http:///www.research-education-edu.blogspot.com [Accessed 09-03-2012].
Nomlomo, V. S. 2007. Science teaching and learning through the medium of English and isiXhosa: a comparative study in two primary schools in the Western Cape.[Online]available at www.http://etd.uwc.ac.za/usrfiles/modules/et.
[Accessed 09-03-2012].
Yara, P. O. 2009. Students’ attitude towards mathematics and academic achievement in some selected secondary schools in Southwestern Nigeria.
[Online] available at www.http://eurojournal.com ISSN 1450-216X Vol.36 No.3 (2009), pp.336-[Accessed 06-03-2012].
179 APPENDICES
APPENDIX A